Interviews

Mike Seeger has helped bring the music of the rural South to popular attention. He did this as a folk musician in the 60s, bringing traditional musicians not yet well known to the forefront of popular attention and continues to do so through performances and archive work today. It is in part through his influence on his own generation that we have the folk-based songs of Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.

Grateful Web recently caught up with Ivan Neville while he was in Maryland. The phone interview had to be postponed for two hours while Neville enjoyed some crab cakes, reputed to be the best in the country. "I'm in Baltimore " he said. "You've got to have crab cakes, and I want to give them my full attention." While his meal was digesting, he spoke about his new band, Dumpstaphunk......

British-born keys player Jon Cleary now makes New Orleans his home where he has immersed himself in a social structure that lives and breathes music. He offers a unique perspective on the cultures that produced New Orleans popular music.

"In New Orleans, music is such an important part of the culture here," says Cleary. It is what first attracts people, not only to visit, but to live there as he has done. "They fall in love with it because they love the culture," he says. "Music is the soundtrack of your social life in New Orleans."

Jon Cleary's upbringing, amid a family of musicians in England, clearly put him on his lifepath. He was destined to be a musician. "There was never any question," he says. "That was all I really ever wanted to do."

Of all the great artists making the rounds this year, none have been more ambitious than Umphrey's McGee. They released the follow-up album to Safety in Numbers called The Bottom Half; a risky two-disc endeavor of leftover studio gems and insightful audio fragments. The band has also since embarked on a national tour that will take them all across the nation, including stops at such top festivals as

This is the beginning. You are about to read Part I of a 3 part series about a quest for true Americana, true outlaws, true America. In case you haven't noticed, the somewhat over genricized music industry is breeding a dozen cowpokes per corral. And America is it recognizable to you?